Kim Jones x Bosideng: What is Areal and why it matters for Chinese luxury fashion
Kim Jones joins Bosideng to launch Areal. Is this the moment a Chinese luxury brand steps up to challenge Europe’s dominance in global fashion?
Kim Jones has moved from the hallowed halls of Paris and Rome to the fast-rising world of Chinese luxury. After shaping Dior’s menswear identity and redefining Fendi’s womenswear and couture, the British designer now leads Areal, a new high-end venture from Bosideng, China’s powerhouse of performance down outerwear.
At first glance, it may seem unlikely—a couturier of Jones’s calibre designing for a Chinese downwear brand. Yet the move marks a subtle but profound shift in fashion’s global hierarchy. While collaborations like these are not unheard of—many acclaimed Western creatives have worked behind the scenes for Asian brands—this partnership, for the first time, is out in the open, signalling a new transparency and ambition in the East–West exchange.
Inside Kim Jones x Bosideng: The Partnership Redefining Chinese Luxury
When Kim Jones stepped down from Fendi in October 2024 and officially departed Dior in January 2025, the industry collectively wondered: What would fashion’s favourite shape-shifter do next? Surprisingly, the answer has emerged from Shanghai—a city fast becoming one of the world’s most confident fashion capitals.
Areal, co-created by Kim Jones and Bosideng, embodies the intersection of European precision and Chinese innovation. For Bosideng—an outerwear titan with more than four decades of technical expertise—the launch represents a bold evolution from performance to prestige. With Areal, the brand rises into the upper echelons of fashion, where design, identity and aspiration converge.
For Jones, this also marks a form of reinvention. Consulting for commercially successful brands seeking a more elevated image is nothing new for fashion’s elite designers—many work discreetly, shaping aesthetics from the shadows. But this time is different. Kim Jones’s appointment as creative director of Areal is both official and strategically resonant. He isn’t simply consulting; he is publicly reframing his place within the post-European luxury landscape, embracing China as his new creative laboratory.
Now, the inevitable question arises: Could Areal by Kim Jones be the brand that finally secures Chinese luxury a place on the global fashion map? And perhaps more provocatively: Is this the start of a new East–West era in fashion—one where innovation flows both ways?
View this post on Instagram
AREAL, the new 20 piece capsule collection for Bosideng under the creative direction of Kim Jones
Bosideng: How China’s Outerwear Giant Is Evolving into a Global Luxury Brand
Founded in the 1970s by Gao Dekang, Bosideng grew from a modest family workshop into a multi-billion-euro global enterprise. Built on mastery of down craftsmanship and the science of warmth, Bosideng has dressed generations through China’s harsh winters. Its formula—precision engineering, premium materials and consistent quality—has made it synonymous with reliability.
But reliability alone doesn’t ignite desire. Over the past few years, Bosideng has been rewriting its story—gracing runways in Paris and Milan, collaborating with global ambassadors, and refining its product architecture to blend functionality with fashion. Since 2017, the company’s design director, Pietro Ferragina, has led this evolution, elevating silhouettes, textures and proportions. Now that Kim Jones has joined the narrative, Bosideng is aiming even higher.
The Birth of Areal: Kim Jones’s High-Fashion Take on Performance Downwear
“Areal is a capsule we’ve been crafting for six months,” Pietro Ferragina explained. “It will debut in China through two pop-ups and in fifty key stores across major cities. It’s a niche collection positioned above Bosideng, with a more exclusive price point. For now, the project is only for China, but who knows where it might lead.”
That “for now” carries a subtle promise. Areal isn’t just a sub-brand; it’s a test flight for a new direction. While Bosideng’s DNA lies in performance and protection, Areal aspires to evoke emotion by fusing luxury design codes with technical credibility. It’s not about chasing European aesthetics but about defining a new luxury language born in China and spoken globally.
Kim Jones’s involvement is the spark that brings credibility. Known for his ability to merge cultures, genres and disciplines—think Louis Vuitton’s legendary collaboration with Supreme or Fendi’s fusion of couture and streetwear—Jones thrives on contrasts. To him, luxury isn’t about lineage; it’s about relevance. Areal is the perfect canvas for that vision.
View this post on Instagram
Structured elegance meets technical precision in AREAL — the new 20-piece capsule by Kim Jones for Bosideng, redefining outerwear with tailored volumes and bold, utilitarian details.
Why Bosideng’s Partnership with Kim Jones Redefines Fashion Power Dynamics
Bosideng’s decision to bring Kim Jones on board isn’t just creative—it’s a strategic one. With an annual turnover of more than three billion euros, the brand knows that global prestige doesn’t come from technical prowess alone. It comes from cultural power. And cultural power today is built through storytelling, symbolism and fashion credibility.
The launch of Areal sends a clear message: Chinese brands can set trends, not just follow them. The new line positions itself as a bridge between high-fashion expression and outerwear innovation—a statement about the future of luxury. Rather than echoing European tradition, it points towards a fusion of craftsmanship, innovation and global modernity.
The strategy makes sense. China’s fashion market is evolving rapidly, with consumers who crave uniqueness, purpose and luxury that feels modern rather than inherited. By combining Jones’s design depth with Bosideng’s production excellence, Areal is well-positioned to deliver exactly that.
The Kim Jones Effect: From Dior to Areal, Reinventing the Idea of Luxury
Kim Jones brings more than just a famous name to Areal; he brings a whole philosophy. Since launching his first collection in London in 2003, Jones has built a career on reinterpreting masculinity, redefining tailoring, and effortlessly blending couture craftsmanship with a streetwear edge. His years at Louis Vuitton—where he led menswear from 2011 to 2018—and later at Fendi and Dior, turned those brands into true cultural touchstones, linking them with music, youth, and the digital age.
Now, collaborating with Bosideng, he’s in unfamiliar yet promising territory. He has the opportunity to reshape what a luxury collaboration looks like in the East—not simply a Western designer lending prestige to a Chinese brand, but a genuine creative partnership capable of shifting global perception. Areal may well become the blueprint for a new chapter of cross-cultural design—one where the centre of gravity moves eastward.
View this post on Instagram
Kim Jones redefines East-meets-West design with AREAL, blending luxury tailoring and streetwear in a bold new chapter for Bosideng
Launching Areal in China: What Kim Jones and Bosideng Are Testing Before Going Global
Launching Areal exclusively in China is both a pragmatic and symbolic move. Bosideng understands its home market better than anyone. The country’s top-tier cities—Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Shenzhen—are hotbeds for new luxury behaviour. Consumers there are experimental, image-driven and technologically fluent. They appreciate exclusivity, but they also value innovation.
By debuting in this environment, Areal can refine its message before facing global scrutiny. Pop-ups will double as immersive brand experiences—part fashion installation, part cultural performance. Each jacket or coat becomes a piece of wearable architecture, where Kim Jones’s aesthetic minimalism meets Bosideng’s technical rigour.
The timing is no coincidence, either. As global fashion cycles grow more decentralised, China’s creative scene has come into its own. Being the first to start a high-end brand locally is not a limitation; it’s a statement of confidence.
Kim Jones and Areal: The Next Code of Luxury and Innovation
Luxury today is less about where a brand comes from and more about what it stands for. In that sense, Areal exemplifies the art of reinvention. It takes Bosideng’s core assets—expertise in insulation, function, and protection—and reframes them through the lens of emotional design.
For Kim Jones, this collaboration is also a personal reinvention. After years at the helm of fashion’s most storied houses, he’s stepping into a more experimental, future-oriented space. Here, it’s not about preserving legacy; it’s about building it. Areal gives him the freedom to play with performance fabrics, innovative silhouettes and sustainable materials, while speaking to a new generation of consumers who view luxury through the prism of innovation rather than tradition.
Angelo Ruggeri
Journalist and Tutor for Styling, Business and Design Course and Master’s Programmes, Milan